Sunday, November 25, 2007

Janet, Lisa, & Chardy decorated the Missouri Public Service building for our annual family gathering. Then Janet gave away the decorations... When Grandpa was alive & the family was smaller, we met for most holidays...Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, & Christmas...The menu was soup & sandwiches....we always have chili, vegetable soup, & potato soup.Deb had scheduled her favorite photographer to come & do a group photo shoot, but she couldn't get there until 3:30 (but then she ended up getting there at 3:00!) & the only ones who had to leave & miss the picture were Great Aunt Minerva Brown & Kerry, Shelia, Kenton, & Steven Dauma. Kenton had to go to work.Others attending were Grandma Grace Brown; Aunt Kay & Uncle Bob Crawford; Aunt Chardy & Uncle Jim Smith; Bernard & Janet Axsom; John Axsom; Tom, Lisa, Max, & Logan Butler; Robin Lynette, Chris, Ashley & Tara Crawford; Kevin, Deb, KJ, & Katie Dailey;Shawn & Karlan Crawford; Robin, and Bobby, Jace, & Lexi Shalz.Deb had interesting talks with Kay, who told her that Aunt Minerva had a book about Porter Wagoner, & that Aunt Minerva had talked to Marsha Jane who had talked to the Wagoner son & found out that Ruth Wagoner died last Thanksgiving. So then Deb talked with Aunt Minerva about Porter Wagoner, once Dale & Minerva Brown stopped to or from Florida to visit with Ruth. Porter was the love of Ruth's life. The family had lost touch with her for years. Porter wrote a song for his youngest daughter Denise. Porter was a heavy smoker & died of lung cancer per Aunt Minerva.Aunt Minerva also shared the story of how they bought her parents farm-they were looking for a place to settle down, they had stopped at her parents on the way-and Tom Maxwell wondered why they were looking for a farm when they could buy his. Aunt Minerva wasn't sure they should, she was the youngest child, & felt her siblings should have first shot at the purchase. So she consulted with all them to see if anyone else wanted to buy the farm. Her husband Dale told her that they were both youngest children, it was their duty to take care of their parents, & that would be hard to do from a farm in southern Missouri. She also told of generous monetary donations that Fern Brown had left to the Cat Creek Cemetery and Coon Creek Church.During one of Minerva's pregnancies, she only weighed 90 pounds, her husband Dale Brown wrapped his arms around her & told her they had to get some meat on those bones!Thanks to Lisa for giving me a notebook to write down notes in...to Aunt Chardy, Lisa, & Mom for decorating & setting up...to Robin Shalz for making everyone a copy of Grandma's glamour shot AND starting a nursing home photo album for Grandma Grace AND kicking in $ on the sitting fee...to Jody Atkins for coming to take pictures...to everyone who managed to stayed a little later than normal to be in the group picture...to Aunt Chardy & her helper Kerry for the annual gift drawing.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

while Kevin was putting the finishing touches on our Thanksgiving supper, I was in our room reading "Under A Flaming Sky The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894"-a true story about people being burnt alive in an uncontrollable fire. I was bawling. Then our company arrives---my mom, dad, & brother John, so I put the book down, Mom says grace, we eat & visit & play Life Twists &Turns, then they leave. There is a lot to be thankful for. All those mothers desperately trying to somehow save their children, burying them in dirt, putting them down wells, wading into millponds with them, taking them to the cellar, throwing them over fences to get them closer to the passing trains... & 2 of my children are safe right here. Koren wasn't feeling good so didn't come. Roads aren't the best either, I slid twice on way to work & scared myself but good. I miss her, but don't want her to take a chance on an accident, & if she's sick she needs to stay home & rest.Katie had called & asked her Grandma to please bring her chicken & noodles & cornbread casserole. I got a 25 lb. Butterball at work, plus made 'real' mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Heinz turkey gravy, Pillsbury hot rolls, & pumpkin pie.Kevin took a picture of us. It means a lot to Katie to have family over.And in the end, family is the most important thing...

Friday, November 9, 2007

found this in an on-line obit from the New York Times...Ruth was the woman Grandma Grace said was a cousin."...At 16, Mr. Wagoner married Velma Johnson, and they divorced before his next birthday. In 1946, he married Ruth Olive Williams; they separated in 1966 and divorced in 1986. He is survived by his children Richard, Denise and Debra...."

Grandma Grace had told me years ago that one of her relatives---I'm thinking a second cousin---married Porter Wagoner & they had a daughter. Will have to look it up. I've been on-line reading bios & obits for him.